Gender Bending: Kiba
by Fraggranark
Summary: Filling the lack of Kiba gender bending! Kiba aids Naruto against mysterious shinobi only for them to flee with a supposedly deadly jutsu. Rewritten after extended absence & continuing. Need suggestions for a new title. Seriously I'm drawing a blank! Hiatus.
1. Change is afoot!

Hey all, if anyone who read this years ago reads it again, sorry for the lack of update. Just kind of lost interest in writing for a bit, that's pretty much it. But hey, back now and rewriting the first two chapters. Got chapter 3 nearly finished too. Onward, to story!

Kiba grumbled under his breath as he wandered towards Team Kurenai's usual meeting place, walking at a slow pace. He was so bored. All their missions lately had been mostly Rank D. And at the moment he didn't even have Akamaru, because the massive dog was with his sister, Hana, after eating a poisonous weed. Why did Akamaru eat the weed? Because Kiba lacked the ability to tell a poison weed from a herb, apparently. Personally, he blamed the fact Hana's herb garden stank so bad you couldn't tell anything from dog crap.

Which, in hindsight, he decided had been a bad thing to say to her.

Kiba's nose twitched when it caught a familiar scent. _I got plenty of time_, He reasoned, _and I haven't seen Naruto in a while, I'll just say hi._

As he set off towards the source of Naruto's unique smell, which reminded Kiba of ramen and foxes for obvious reasons, four harsher smells came to him on the wind. Two were similar, the way siblings who eat the same things and live together are similar. The third and fourth scents sent Kiba running towards Naruto. The scents of blood and sweat.

The dog-nin exited the trees into a large clearing. The clearing was populated by three other people, one of whom was a bleeding and tired Naruto. The other two people appeared to be ninja. Both were dress similarly, in a loose long sleeved black shirt with hoods, black trousers, black sandals, black gloves and black sword scabbards. The only way to them apart was that one had his forehead protector around where his mouth and chin probably were, their angry looking eyes being the only facial features that could be seen under the hood, and his scabbard on his belt, while the other wore his forehead protector on his actual forehead, and his scabbard on his back. Their forehead protectors were blank.

One tried to behead Naruto with his katana with a high strike, while the other attempted to prevent the blond Nin from avoiding the blow with a literal low blow.

Kiba charged forward, kicking the would-be-header away not a second too soon, the katana cutting through the front of Naruto already damaged jacket, missing his neck by centimetres.

Without the first to worry him, Naruto spun, kicking the second enemy ninja in the head.

"Hey Naruto, thought you might need a hand." Kiba said as the two Konoha shinobi went back to back.

"Nah, I was doin' fine, but you're welcome to join in." Naruto said, panting. "After all, the future Hokage should be generous." Although he couldn't see it Kiba knew the blond was grinning as he said that.

Snorting, the dog-nin replied "Good to hear. Does the mean when you're Hokage you'll be generous enough to pay Tsunade's depts?" That stopped Naruto dead for a moment, sending a shudder down both their spines at the thought of that bankrupting sum.

Meanwhile their two enemies circled them, weapons at the ready, looking and moving as if they had just got out of bed and were ready to spend the rest if the day fighting. In truth, both were exhausted, having had a lot of trouble with the Jinchuriki. With the arrival of another Konoha ninja, the odds were not in their favour. Time to pull out _that_.

And yes, by _that_ I mean the ominous weapon or technique everyone seems reluctant to ever name until it's used.

Some silent signal pasted between them, for at the exact same, and I mean at the **exact** same time, they charged, both forming unfamiliar seals.

Kiba and Naruto charged as well, both doing what they usually did. Naruto used created a Shadow Clone to unleash his Rasengan on the run, while Kiba used his used his Beast Mimicry and Fang Over Fang. Except without the other Fang to be over, or to under for it to be over for that matter. So it was really just a fang, to be perfectly honest. Granted, a rapidly spinning chakra enhanced living fang but a fang nonetheless.

Naruto reached his attacker a split second before Kiba due to the smaller distance between them, which was enough. Using his Rasengan, Naruto sent his opponent flying back before he formed the last seal of his attack. Kiba's enemy, however performed the last seal and shouted, "Crippling Mutation Seal" with a bare inch separating him from his foe, finishing as Kiba struck him. Both were sent flying, but the green glow which had briefly surrounded the black clothed ninja's hand before being struck had covered Kiba.

Laughing, the enemy both recovered, slower than before, and with a _poof! _of smoke, disappeared.

Naruto stared at where his assailant had been, grinning from ear to ear in the belief that he had frightened off the enemy. Until, of course a few seconds later, when he saw Kiba laying on the ground about fifty meters away, glowing with a strange green viewable chakra and writhing around.

"Kiba!" Naruto shouted when he reached his comrade, who was shaking as the chakra pulled on his body, tearing up his clothes.

Kiba screamed in pain, as the chakra tried to forcefully change his body and DNA, loud cracking and popping sounds filling the air.

Through Kiba's clothes, Naruto could see his body thinning and changing shape. Bulges and growths appeared for seconds before settling back and regrowing in whole new places. His body seemed to be constantly shifting.

Kiba screamed again, although this time it sounded more like a shriek of undiluted pain.

Panicking at this admittedly distressing turn of events, Naruto formed the necessary seals for the Summoning jutsu and slammed his hands on the ground, summoning Gamakichi. Grapping the still changing Kiba, Naruto leapt onto the toad, roughly the size of a horse, and demanded they head for the Hokage tower.

Several hours later, Kiba slowly came to. He picked sounds of a hushed argument somewhere nearby. Moaning at his sickening head-ache, Kiba tried to sit up, opening his eyes to find himself in the Konohagakure Main Hospital, starring at the ceiling when his arms and back failed to keep him up.

"Fucking arms." Kiba muttered. '_Hang on'_, he thought, '_that didn't sound entirely right'_. His confused his line of thought was interrupted by a painfully familiar voice.

"Don't swear in my presence, idiot!" Tsume Inuzuka barked in her...son's ear. He absently noted that the quiet argument had stopped.

Kiba glared at his mother, entirely failing to notice several key factors of his situation.

"Don't shout in my ear, it fu..fu..what the fuck happened to my voice!" Kiba's arms shot up to grab his throat, only to encounter some fleshy obstacles en route from his lap, where they had been lazing about, to his throat. Head turning down he, or rather she, found something very distressing. And very confusing. In fact, _she_ found two very distressing and very confusing, and because once simply wasn't enough _very _distressing lumps.

The door to Kiba's room opened before Tsume could say anything and Tsunade entered the room followed by Sakura and Naruto. All three were wearing amused expressions, and in Naruto's case he was barely holding from laughing out right. In fact, every so often he let out a few giggles. Normally Sakura or the Fifth would have given him smack upside the head, but they understood him. Besides, it was surprising that he had held himself back from laughing out right and as it was Tsunade was worried that when he did he might hurt himself holding it in.

Very amused Tsunade began before either Inuzuka could start at her. "Well, I've had DNA tests done and you are most certainly Kiba Inuzuka, of that we have no doubt." Ignoring Kiba and her mother's sarcastic 'oh really' she went on. "This is a very unique...ailment-"

Kiba cut her off saying, "You obviously never saw one of our class henge tests." Kiba shut her mouth when Tsume, Tsunade and Sakura glared at her, while Naruto snickered in the back ground.

"Continuing on, if we don't have any more comments, we've looked over the records and found something similar to the jutsu that was affecting you, causing random mutations, mostly things just as bone growth, cancers and a variety of other things you _really _don't want to know about." Tsunade's voice left no room for argument. "Had Naruto not acted as fast as he did, we would not have been able to save you from becoming a pile of pulsating, pain-filled lump of flesh. In fact, to keep you human we had to use some of your mother's DNA in the procedure." Biting her lip to keep from laughing at Kiba's scowl, which looked like a very cute pout, the Hokage continued. "I think this may be the reason you are female. If we had a male Inuzuka on hand, we could have used them, but as you should know, you are the oldest male Inuzuka and we couldn't locate any of your more distant relatives fast enough."

Kiba frowned. "Can you reverse this?" She twitched at the sound of her voice. She sounded...cute. Arrgh.

Tsunade shook her head. "I'm afraid I have no idea about the mechanics of the jutsu used on you. All we had were vague reports from a medic during the First Great Ninja War, along with an outline of a theoretical procedure. Luckily I was able to use that old thing as a base and develop a better method in time. It was a near thing." Tsunade's voice was strained and Kiba realised it must have been difficult, if performing it could affect the Hokage like this. Of course, Kiba was still a girl and right now it was hard not to be angry.

"Most of it, what do you mean?" Kiba asked "Do I still have stuff growing in me? The fuck?", before being smacked on the back of the head by her annoyed mother.

"Shut it brat! Would you have preferred being a mass of leaking, pulsating tumours?"

"...at least I wouldn't have boobs!'

Tsume gave her former son another slap on the back of the head. "Idiot, women don't say boobs, we say breasts." She looked at the Hokage. "I still have mission, as you know, so I trust you'll deal with this, Hokage-sama." Turning back to Kiba she said, "Listen, I'll be back as soon as possible, so be good and don't do anything stupid. When I get back we'll be discussing the repercussions of this, _if _it's permanent. Hopefully you'll better when I get back." With a brief affectionate ruffling of her son turned daughter's hair, Tsume left her red faced child to the tender mercies of the Hokage.

"Well... What the Hell now?" Kiba asked to distract them from her mother's goodbye pat. "What am I supposed to do while _these _things are poking out of my chest?" She demanded, gripping the offending orbs in each hand.

Sakura smacked Kiba in the head, since Tsume was gone and someone had to. Tsunade would send her through a wall if she did it.

Said Kage smirked. She couldn't wait to see what this would cause. Life had been getting dull. "Until we have a way to reverse this, you, Kiba Inuzuka, shall continue in the service of Konoha as a kunoichi!" at this announcement Naruto nearly lost it, forgotten in the background as he huddled in a corner, desperately trying to hold the funny in it. The Hokage wasn't finished. "For the next few days Sakura will assist you in adapting to your new body. Which neatly leads to the next thing on the agenda; getting you more suitable clothes."

Kiba stared at the smirking Hokage, Sakura squealed in delight at the prospect of taking someone shopping on the village's money and Naruto collapsed as his laughter finally filled the hospital.

Thanks for reading, will update the 2nd chapter and add the third soon, within a day or so.

Please R&R, but if you're here to bitch or whine or complain, I don't really care if you if you dislike my work. I'll try not to be too crushed that some random idiot who has too much time has decided to waste his life telling me how much he hates what I've written. Or she, which ever. I'm equally apathetic to both genders.

That's a kind of equality, after all.


	2. Shopping & Pavement Destruction

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters or settings or anything like that. Kishimoto does, so take your beefs up with him.

_I'm looking for someone to be the beta reader for this story if anyone is interested._

Finished the minor updating of this chapter, should post the next one in a couple hours. Still looking for a beta reader if anyone is up for it.

Oh, and important: I really need some suggestions for a better title, cause I'm pulling a blank here.

Kiba glared at the ground, as if it was personally at fault for _her_ currently being it such a state. Ahead of her Sakura led the way, looking back every so often to make sure the transgendered Inuzuka in sight. She had already tried to flee, only to be thwarted by Naruto at every turn, who found the whole situation absolutely hilarious. He was quite willing to carry some bags in exchange to see this. Since returning back from his two and a half year of training with Jiraiya, Sakura had realised the benefit of taking Naruto when she went shopping. No longer was she limited to what she could carry, with a virtual army of Naruto Shadow Clones to carry bags.

Kiba was being less then helpful throughout the whole process. Shopping for female clothing was something reserved strictly for women and guys being dragged around by girlfriends. The dog-nin wasn't the latter, but to be fair Kiba couldn't have been expected to predict this series of events.

Sakura suddenly grabbed Kiba's arm and dragged her into a store to their left, trailed by Naruto. Kiba struggled to find some benefit, a bright side, to all this but all she came up with was that she could get to see a girl naked whenever she wanted, which she admitted would have been more of an advantage if she was still male and the naked girl was not in fact hersefl. At least by shopping she could get out of the ill fitting clothes borrowed from the hospital for such times. Well, not shinobi randomly changing gender, but times when they needed spares but didn't have any on them. A surprisingly common event, as it happened.

(I'm skipping the shopping because I can't seem to write a satisfying scene. Hell, I can't write an unsatisfying one either.)

After being taken to several stores including one store to get Kiba her...support, which was needless to say awkward, they were finally finished. Kiba was currently wearing a leather jacket similar to her usual one but sleeveless, a plain black shirt and pants like her usual ones with.

Thusly equipped, Kiba set about a new, far more difficult task; finding a way to escape before Sakura was able to explain the use of several highly suspicious 'things' brought from a pharmacy. Looking around nervous, Kiba was so desperate to flee that she didn't notice the sound of a dog running from behind her. The faint wind shifted, wafting into her face and causing her nose to twitch as she took a habitual sniff, picking up some all too familiar scents. Unfortunately this came too late, as the leap propelled mass of canine fur and muscle was in the air, barking fiercely.

With a loud cry Kiba and the dog crashed to the ground, Akamaru anxiously snuffling his partner's hair when he noticed the change in the scent that he had ignored in his joy at seeing Kiba. Kiba grumbled at the attack, more at the fact she hadn't had a chance to explain what had happened to her.

"Kiba!" And before Kiba was even on her feet, the proverbial shit hit the theoretical fan in a storm of metaphorical fury. Flowing in the nin-dog's wake came Hinata, Shino and a pregnant-as-ever Kurenai, because the universe simply couldn't let Kiba run into them on her own terms.

Kiba managed to force Akamaru off her at last and leapt to her feet by the time the team arrived. Hinata pulled up short when she saw Kiba, obviously thinking Akamaru had tackled someone else. Shino and Kurenai also stopped, Kurenai also looking mildly surprised at the female Kiba-look-alike and Shino had a vague air of surprise. One of his bugs emerged from beneath his collar and the Aburame's attention shifted to it for a moment, as though receiving as report.

Hinata looked embarrassed, stippling her fingers. "S-sorry. I t-though that you w-were Kiba. Since Akamaru only does that to Kiba, I though y-you were him. Sorry." She looked away, her face slightly red. Shino remained silent, watching Kiba from behind his glasses.

The Jonin noticed the red tattoos on the girl's cheeks and narrowed her brow. "I don't suppose you're a member of the Inuzuka clan by any chance. You do bare a distinct resemblance Kiba." Now her eyes narrowed. The girl's stance was identical to Kiba's and she seemed to have the same fashion sense her pupil did. A sneaking suspicion entered her head, which she promptly ignored, it was simply too ludicrous and funny to happen. "in fact, you could be his female twin. And Akamaru likes you."

Kiba twitched nervously. She hoped to be able to keep this a secret from her team at least. "Umm, yeah, I'm Kiba's... cousin. Which explains why I've met Akamaru before, and since I'm related to Kiba that's why he was so happy to see me and that was why so, nothing suspicious." Normally Kiba was a marginally better liar, but she had been caught off-balance in an odd situation. She nervously scratched the back of her head a jittery, worried smile on her face.

Kurenai just stared at her. "Then why are you wearing a leaf forehead protector? Why have I never seen you here before? Why has Kiba _never_ mentioned a female cousin?" she asked, meeting the girl's eyes head on, whose face froze.

Before this could continue, Naruto chose that moment to find turned around and make sure Kiba was still there. "Oi, Kiba, hurry up! Don't you wanna tell your sister about your sex change thing?" the Jinchuriki let out a loud laugh at his own description of her condition. Kiba's face started to twitch while her team look from her to Naruto to Kiba again. Except Shino, who simply sighed in a rather tired way. Well, and Hinata, who was divided between being shocked and fainting at the sight of her crush. Her body compromised by going red like a fire truck and losing focus, like a conscious faint, to stare at Naruto. So Kurenai was really the only one looking surprised in a normal way.

"Umm, I can explain. It's all Naruto's fault" Kiba began, ignoring the blonde's shout of denial. Her teamed kept staring at her, though they broke off when Naruto and Sakura joined them, Naruto grinning like an idiot in anticipation of Kiba's team's reaction and Sakura smiling slightly, amused as well. As soon as Naruto got in range, Kiba gave him a good thump on the head. Before she could continue her explanation, he responded in kind. So of course this could not go unavenged thus beginning the kind of continuous fights that naturally occur when two enormously stubborn people meet.

"Stop it!" Sakura barked at the two, cracking both their skulls into the road. Turning back to Team Kurenai, she smiled sweetly, as if she had not just floored two of her fellow ninja. "What a coincidence, we were going to look for you after we've had been to see Kiba's sister."

Amid the whimpers coming from the craters formally known as Naruto and Kiba, the latter of who managed to say, "We were?"

Sakura glared at the Kiba crater, resisting the urge to stomp on the back of her head, and rather forcefully said, "Yes, we were. Now be quiet while I explain." Without hesitation she dived into the story, making sure to remember every detail for them. She didn't want Kiba or Naruto to say something and make her hit them again, after all. Even if beating up others with her Tsunade-strength was better than a nice afternoon at the spa with the other kunoichi.

By the time the medic had finished the tale Kiba had managed to drag herself out of the crater with Akamaru's help, who was eager to make sure his partner was okay.

Kiba scowled. She would have had to tell them eventually. "I was hoping to get through this whole damn thing with my dignity in tack, you bastard!" Kiba growled at Naruto, bearing her canines. "You had better not go round shouting this out again or I won't be the only one missing their balls! You got me, blondy?"

Naruto grinned nervously as he summoned a clone to help him out of the crater. "Well, about keeping this a secret. I may have _slightly_ told Ino when she found me waiting outside one of the stores. Heh, sorry." The fox confessed apologetically. He still found this whole thing hilarious but he also realised it happened when Kiba was going out of his way to help him so he felt a little guilty. So his telling the kunoichi gossip magnet wasn't the brightest of moves.

Kiba gaped at Naruto and was _this _close to going for his jugular when Kurenai coughed in a loud and deliberate manner to get her attention.

"So, how will this affect your work?" She asked, concerned. "Can you still fight?"

Kiba smirked, mentally promising Naruto a painful death later as she rested her hands behind her head and leaned back. "Easy. Not as much muscle but I think I might be faster." The thought of Kiba getting faster than she had been was impressive. He had always been one of the faster of their generation.

Shino, still impassive, lifted a hand and one of his Kikaichu, or destruction bugs, landed on one of his fingers. "Your chakra is unaffected by the change. As you said, your only significant loss is in your muscle mass but you still remain extremely fit." Shino spoke without tangible emotion, but Kiba glared at him.

"Damn it, I told you to keep your bloody insects to yourself!" She growled at him. Kurenai got the dog-nin's attention again so she could make sure there wouldn't be too many problems for her squad. Other than the whole 'Kiba being female' thing, but that wasn't going to change anytime soon. Since she was understandably not on active duty due to the whole 'pregnancy' thing, she had to look out for her pupils other ways. The group resumed their walk towards the Inuzuka compound.

All conversation was cut off when Hinata hit the ground with a loud thump just as they reached the gate, leaving a very confused Naruto looking down at her. He had tried to start a conversation with the Hyuuga heiress. This brought about what anyone but Naruto could have predicted.

Sakura, as vigilant as ever for opportunities for butting into her teammate's life, snatched this one like a hungry vulture, though doubtless if anyone told her this out loud they would have a crater of their own.

"Well Naruto, since you have nothing to do now and this is your fault why don't you take her back to the Hyuuga estate?" She said in a tone which may as well have screamed "If you don't do this I'll break every bone in your body three times over." Naruto, about to protest this being his fault since he was oblivious, paused as the subtext was frantically translated by his brain, desperate to reach him as his normally absent sense of self-preservation got on the job at last.

Realising that everyone, well everyone conscious, even Akamaru was staring at him expectantly he gulped nervously. Rather than dwell on this he simply agreed, thoughtlessly dropping everything he was carrying to pick Hinata. He was lucky that Sakura was unwilling sock him when it might hurt the girl he was holding bridal style. Still, she had time to get a photo with camera he had been carrying around today in case he could get some funny pictures of Kiba, some 'mementoes' as he told them both when Sakura took it from him. _'What goes around comes around'_ she though smugly as Naruto ran off.

Turning back Sakura found that Kiba had already gone inside and began to explain what happened to Hana, who from the sounds of it found the whole situation hilarious. If she was hearing right, so were her trio of nin-dogs, the Haimaru Sankyodai.

Hana was indeed enjoying herself, having nearly collapsed from lack of breathe by the time the medic entered the large kitchen where the older Inuzuka had been enjoying a snack. Shino was standing next to the door doing his usual stoic thing. Kurenai was sitting at the kitchen table next to a disgruntled looking Kiba, mildly amused by the older Inuzuka's antics. The younger wasn't amused in the slightest.

"Stop laughing for fuck's sake!" Kiba finally said, exasperated. "Yoowwwuch!" Kiba ducked as both her teacher and sister smacked her upside the head.

Kiba's sister smirked at her new sister. "Well, I guess this change hasn't made you more eloquent. Oh well, this change may be good for you. I always wanted to have a sister." Here Hana's smirk grew, if that were possible. "I always wanted someone to explain the facts of life of to. Why wait a month, wouldn't want things to be a surprise."

The dog-nin stared without understanding at her sister for a moment, and then time seemed to freeze as her brain snapped to attention.

Sakura slipped in and closed door, leaning against it. Kurenai tightly gripped Kiba's arm and Hana just keep on grinning at her sister's frozen pale face. Ignored by the three women, Shino was as close to sweating as he had ever come. He was mature, smart and knew what was going to be said, but it was still sent shivers down a deep part of his soul, which was desperately voicing the idea of fleeing. But Kiba was his friend and teammate, so couldn't just leave her.

Hana reached into one of the shopping bags, pulling out a box Sakura had purchased from the pharmacy.

"To start this is for..."


	3. The Talk & Violence

Here's the first new chapter now that I'm back into writing this. Writing another gender bender for Fairy Tail at the moment as well, so once the first chapter of that is up will finish the next part of this. Double change in that one, Levy and Gajeel.

Oh yeah, looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested.

XXXXXXX

It was a strange sight which greeted the group of shinobi when they arrived at the training ground. What appeared to be deathly pale female Inuzuka nestled against the familiar bulk of Akamaru, shivering quite fiercely. Equally strange was the sight Shino – _Shino_ – was obviously trying to console her. That Shino was actually supplying most of the conversation was shocking beyond reason.

This group was familiar with Shino, seeing as it consisted of the Rookie 9 and Team Gai. Naruto was at the front of the group since it was his idea for a group training session. He simply wanted to see what everyone could do, even Shikamaru and Temari who they had found along the way. When he saw Kiba and Shino, unlike the others he simply began to snicker. This got him attention quite quickly. Fortunately this spared Hinata, who had gone slightly pale. After all, since it was her teammate she would be the logical person to go to. Of course this wasn't relevant to them.

"Naruto, why are doing that?" Choji asked.

Naruto just grinned. As they approach, they could make out what the girl was muttering.

"Hana just keeping on smirking and smirking as she held that _thing_ and she just keeping saying it over _and _over again to make sure I heard. Why couldn't she just..." The girl trailed off as she spotted group approaching. She simply smacked her forehead. Of course. She goes out to of one the empty training grounds to try and get over the horrible nightmare that was... _THE TALK! _And by some mystery the whole lot of his generation come along. Kiba wasn't sure how, but she knew it must be Naruto's fault.

"Yes, yes, Kiba got turned female, laugh then go away! Hana traumatised me and I have no patience." Kiba barked at them, reinforced by Akamaru's growl. Shino simply nodded at them.

They stared for moment, except Naruto who snickered and Hinata who approached her teammates, concern written on her features.

"K-Kiba?" She kneeled down next to her. "Traumatised? Are you a-alright?" She was concerned. She was still embarrassed about fainting. Twice. Alright, three times. Once more when she woke up when Naruto was carrying her across town and the finale when they arrived at the estate and he gave her to Neji. Hinata was worried she might've been able to help if she hadn't feinted. But as she was about learn, nothing could stop..._THE TALK!_

The newly minted female shuddered. "My foul, foul, foul, _foul_ sister! That _thing_, those _feminine_ _health care products!_" She spat the words like curses. "I despise all thing _pharmical_ and _care-ish _and _feminine!_ So..." Her head snapped up and she managed to achieve a glare S-rank missing nin would kill a village for. The entire group seemed to take a step back. "The first one of you to try taking the piss out of me will wake up in the hospital without their nose, eyes, ears or for that matter skull!" The dog-nin beared her canines at them. Akamaru beared his as well as he provided the chorus for Kiba's choir of growls.

Neji smirked. "We heard about it, but no one really believed it. Heh, guess the mutt can't be 'alpha' anymore." Neji said in mocking tones. Neji and Kiba had struck up a rather troublesome antagonistic relationship of insulting one another since the chuunin exams, although normally they could hold a civil conversation without arguing. Kiba still harboured a vague grudge over what he did to Hinata and his apparent prudishness while the Hyuuga found the dog-nin annoying and brutish. One of Neji usual barbs was about Kiba's dog like senses and concepts.

The dog-nin stood up, eyes narrowing angrily. "You wanna bloody lip turd-face? Cause I'll rip you apart if that's what you want!" Akamaru stood next to his partner, his fur on end in anger as well. Few things angered the Inuzuka hound more than someone mocking his partner.

Just as Neji began to respond he was interrupted by the human whirlwind that was Rock Lee. "KIBA! YOUR YOUTHFUL ANGER WOULD BE FAR MORE USEFUL UPON THE BATTLE FIELD THAN DIRECTED TOWARDS MY TEAMMATE!" Lee's teeth shine practically blinded Kiba from close range.

"GAH! My eyes!" Kiba and Akamaru stepped back, Kiba placing one hand over her eyes and the other over Akamaru's. Unable to see she didn't react in time to stop Lee grabbing her arm and what amounted to throwing her bodily to the centre of training area. Her partner barked in distress and chased out met her.

When Kiba's sight finally cleared she realised where she was and that Lee was standing across from her in a fighting stance.

"Grrr, fine! Akamaru lets do this! _Shikyaku no Jutsu_! _Jujin Bunshin_!" With poof of smoke a near identical Kiba clone appeared. Except for one thing.

"Dammit Akamaru!" Kiba thumped the male version of herself on the head, who whined before redoing the transformation. "Shut the hell!" was directed at the laughing group watching.

Transformation done, the two formed up for the fight facing Lee.

"Lets go!"

Kiba and Akamaru launched through the air at Lee. Akamaru slashed at Lee's legs while Kiba planted one foot on the ground and spun to bring the other leg around at his head. Lee jumped, raising his feet up and grabbing Kiba's shin. His own leg shot out to slam into her face sending her flying, before recoiling his legs and firing them like cannons, smashing into Akamaru's head.

Kiba dug her feet into the ground, slowing her flight. She pulled herself into a knot of muscle before pushing off, sprinting back to Lee who had gripped Akamaru's head between his ankles, planting his hands in the dirt to provide the leverage to throw the transformed nin-dog into the air. Lifting one hand from the ground he twisted, throwing Akamaru towards her. She ducked just before Akamaru reached her, gripping the dog's imitation jacket to stop them both, although the force of Lee's throw kept them moving back a few feet. Slipping one hand into her belt pack holding her shinobi equipment she pulled out a smoke bomb she set it off. Actually using her equipment was a new thing for Kiba, so it caught Lee by surprise.

Suddenly emerging from the cloud were two large, more feral looking Akamaru look-alikes. Rather than wait Lee charged forward to meet them half-way, sending a round house kick at the right hand dog. The dog wasn't fast enough and the strike sent it tumbling away, a puff of smoke revealing it to be Kiba. Narrowly avoiding the jaws of the true hound Lee slapped his hands onto Akamaru's muzzle, providing the support to get into the air. Shifting his grip to Akamaru's head Lee pushed himself up slightly, giving himself just enough room to rotate and bring the back of his foot in the nin-dog's back.

With a dreadful crack Akamaru was slammed into the dirt, followed shortly by a cloud of smoke that blew away to reveal...Kiba? Lee's eyes widened in shock, but he proved his reputation for sheer monstrous physical ability by using the split second of awareness to launch into the air, narrowly avoiding the actual Akamaru's spinning Fang Passing Fang attack.

Which left the Taijutsu-specialist open to the unveiled Kiba's own Fang Passing Fang. Well, that was the plan. Imagine Kiba's surprise when Lee countered by striking with an open hand, not attacking but grapping Kiba's arm and holding steady. Since Kiba was rotating at a high velocity at the time this led to neither of them following their desired path.

Thrown off balance they slowed until they span no longer. For a second they stared at each other, both realising what it meant when you were high in the air and had run out of momentum. Gravity gleefully grappled the pair and brought them hurtling towards the ground, since just falling wouldn't be adequet and the universe simply can't pass up a chance for a pun like hurtling. Because its gonna hurt, geddit?

Yes, the universe has a horrible sense of humour.

Grumbling, Kiba pushed Lee away and got back on her feet, having hit the ground rather hard. Akamaru came over and nuzzled her, clearly concerned. It seemed the fight was over, as neither Lee or Kiba made any aggressive movements.

"Y'know" Kiba said as they made their way back to the others. "I do actually feel better now. Tch, always knew violence made things easier." Lee responded with another blinding teeth-based flare and a thumps up. "Someone else's turn to get pummelled so I can watch." She said to the others after they praised the three of them on a good bout, settling down on the ground. Akamaru lay down next to her, so she leaned against him to make herself more comfortable. She knew that if it had been a serious fight it probably wouldn't have ended in a draw. For all the special techniques of the Inuzuka Clan, Lee was a terrifying opponent.

Resting against the comforting warmth of her faithful nin-dog, Kiba let herself relax a bit. The day had been stressful, but that fight had let her work out a bit of steam.

Pushing away thoughts of the day's events, Kiba focused on the spar between Tenten, who was using a staff that she later revealed to be a three-section staff, and Naruto who simply fought with a kunai in one hand, joining the others in cheering them on.

All in all, that day had exhausted its supply of horrible events for Kiba.

But there's always tomorrow!

XXXXXXX

Alright all, R&R please. Gonna add more in a couple days.


	4. Awkward Situation & Bad Memories

Hey all, new chapter. Told you I was updating! Ah-HA!

Anyway, disclaimer and all that.

VERY IMPORTANT! PAY ATTENTION TO THE CAPS! I need a new title, seriously! As of this posting, the title is shit in a bag. A bag made of frozen urine at that! So, suggest a good one and the best one before my next chapter will get a parade!

Moving on, enjoy the longest chapter yet. Hell, half the size of all the combined chapters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Fug ogg!"

Leaning against Kiba's bedroom door Hana Inuzuka sighed at the muffled reply before shouting again. "That better not have been what I thought it was." Getting Kiba up in the morning when he, now she, didn't have a mission had always been difficult.

There was a distinct silence, a notable absence of sound, as the barely conscious Kiba considered her response.

"Fug ogg!" Came Kiba's barely coherent voice. Forehead vein twitching for a moment, Hana just sighed and walked away. First her new little sister came home covered in bruises, clothes scuffed and generally very ragged in appearance, normally not a problem with Inuzuka but seriously, on her _first_ day as a girl, and now she was sleeping in when she had promised to help Hana in the clinic for the morning.

Returning to the kitchen and her breakfast, Hana decided to let Kiba out of it this once. After all, she probably still needed a bit of time to adjust. Tsunade-sama had temporally taken Team 8 off the list for missions beyond the border of the village, deciding that it would be best for them if Kiba had time to get to know her new body better since they didn't know how long she would have it. It might be best to follow the Hokage's example.

Hana was clearing away the remains of her meal when Kiba emerged, eyes lidded and clothes in disarray. The Inuzuka clan was rarely inactive, even when asleep. Hana made a vague disapproving sound in the back of her throat. Had Kiba been more awake she might have noticed. Since she wasn't, she didn't.

"What was the point in you even getting new sleep wear if you're not going to use it?" the older Inuzuka asked, eyeing Kiba's familiar shirt and boxers which were distressingly loose. Honestly, sometimes she got tired of being the only one in her family who cared about appearances. She understood their mother and Kiba's general disregard for such things, but at least Tsume made some effort not to look like she had just rolled out of bed. Although technically Kiba just had, but chances were good things wouldn't get much better as the day wore on.

Kiba just grunted and pulled the fridge door open to stick her head inside in pursuit of food as she did every morning. At the sight of her former-brother's unaltered routine Hana couldn't resist a small laugh at how some things never changed.

Picking up the gear she needed Hana paused at the door. Kiba was by then seated at the table in the centre of the kitchen, mowing her way through a bowl of something sugar-encrusted and Akamaru had entered and began to rip apart a slab of high-quality meat. Most of Kiba's slothfulness seemed to have been shaken off, at least enough to actually pay attention.

"I'm letting you off this once, okay? Today isn't anything special, so you're lucky I hadn't planned on using you for much or I might not be so nice." Hana said. "Have a nice day _sis_, try not to do anything stupid." Now Hana laughed loudly, joined by her three nin-dogs, the three Haimaru Brothers letting out rather laugh-like panting as Kiba nearly choked on a spoon full of cereal.

Muttering darkly at the largely empty kitchen Kiba finished her food, before heading off to shower, something which promised new experiences for everyone involved. As far as Kiba knew that list included and consisted solely of her. If it didn't she be in for a rather large surprise.

Probably followed by violence.

At some point during the process Kiba vaguely recalled agreeing to meet all the others somewhere in the morning but for the life of her she couldn't remember where or why. At least Hana had let her get out of helping. A towel around her waist and another in hand as she dried her hair, Kiba was pondering this mystery when she walked into the presumably empty kitchen with the intent to ask Akamaru. She froze as approximately twenty four eyes, twelve pairs, focused on her, four on either side of the door. Time seemed to come to halt as all involved took in the exact details of what was happening.

At this stage things might have been swiftly but embarrassingly resolved had Kiba taken a step back and slammed the door shut or just used the towel in her hands to cover her chest. That's roughly what you'd expect a woman to do, take action to cover her nude body from prying eyes, however unintentional that prying is. A man would do something similar but usually if his crotch was unclothed. It is important, therefore, to note that Kiba had until the day before been male and as such her sense of modesty was largely focused mostly on that previously mentioned crotch region. A day and a night were really not long enough to develop an entirely new set of automatic reaction and to her established instincts she already was safely covered. All this led to...

"Morning guys."

Kiba only belated realised that the still unfamiliar voice was her own and one of her hands had moved to make a single wave of greeting. The moment of sudden shock had passed her mostly unnoticed, Kiba having been more surprised at neither hearing nor smelling the others. "So...it was here we were gonna met then?" asking the first thing that came to mind.

Everyone, including the two looming on either side of the door, continued to stare with wide eyes, faces reddening as every one of their brains drew a mental blank with one hand and took down a set of notes and a matching picture with the other. Staring at the others, entirely perplexed, Kiba followed their collective gaze and suddenly, her new breasts appeared as though jumping out of a closet in an attempt to frighten someone, which they might as well have done in regards to the effect they had. From Kiba's point of view at least. Such a thought would probably be feather on the camel's back where everyone else was concerned if the trickle of blood from multiple noses was any indication.

Face now matching the rest of the room Kiba yelped and pulled the door closed. Silence reigned while she walked back to her room, pulling on a shirt – over a reluctantly worn sports bra – and getting dressed. The house remained deadly quiet until the kitchen door opened and Kiba re-emerged, now fully clothed. Since every chair and table top had an occupant, she just stood there.

Things were, needless to say, extremely awkward.

At last, after minutes of painful silence, someone spoke. "I kinda... forgot we agreed to met at my place..." Kiba scratched the back of her head nervously.

"No one minds."

The room froze for the second time in half an hour as those three, simple words seemed to grow and fill all the empty space. Figuratively, of course.

Standing at the back, technically only halfway in room, was Kankuro. Leaning against the door frame his mouth was stretched in a grin and his eyes glittered with mischief. Kiba had no idea why the Sand-nin was there, not being privy to the arrangements between the Kazekage and Hokage on the details of messengers trusted enough to carry communication on certain sensitive matters, but at the moment that didn't matter. What did matter was the incredibly annoying look on his face and the fact he seemed to be enjoying the fact everyone was now looking at him.

So Kiba did comes naturally. "First time seeing a pair not on one of your freaky little dolls?" Insult him.

Kankuro, despite an initial twitch, held his ground admirably in the face of the quick drawn verbal attack, returning with a rapid reprisal. "Whereas until this happened you never saw any that didn't come in three-times the number and on something furry?" He smirked when Kiba growled under her breath, using the chance to launch a conversational assault in hopes of gaining a beach head from which to win the batt- err, conversation, early in the struggle. "Besides, there are certain... perks from being the Kazekage's brother and least my puppets don't leave stains on the carpet."

That she would not take lying down. "Oi, don't compare Akamaru and the others to pets!" a weak defence, one Kankuro was quick to melt with the metaphorical acidity of his wit.

The puppeteer's smirk seemed to gain another few inches. It was nearly growing off his face. "Wasn't talkin' about the dogs."

That sealed the deal. With a growl Kiba shot across the room, one foot bouncing her off the table and through the air towards Kankuro. Her fist cannon towards his face, but in her anger she had telegraphed her movements enough that even someone who avoided close combat as much as Kankuro did was able to predict her line of attack and he caught it with one hand. What he didn't catch was her leg coiling and releasing a kick to his side. Unable to spot it he was still able to send a quick jab into her stomach.

With the _whoosh_ of displaced air and a green blur both found their attack halted. Squeezed between them Lee held them back. Kiba landed on her feet and Kankuro took a step back, both now turning to the Taijutsu adept.

His expression was unexpectedly disapproving and oddly serious. "You waste the flame of youth!" his words, however, were no different than usual. "Your fight here is pointless and meaningless!...and we'll be late." He seemed almost embarrassed to add the last part, as though he were betraying some ideal not letting everything that passed his lips be loud declaration about youth and passion.

The rest of the group became active at that, standing up and moving for the door blocked by the two feuding ninja and Lee.

"Bushy-brow is right!" Naruto hollered, pushing the three out the door. "Ichiraku's got a special deal on today and I can't till we get this crap done!" Which explained his apparent eagerness to do something he would normally consider a waste of time. Speaking of which...

"Uh, what are we doin' again?" Kiba asked, confused. She had vague recollections of agreeing to met them somewhere for something, but she had no idea what it might have bee. Oddly a memory of something, maybe hair a rich purple hue, flashed into her mind before fading away.

Breaking away halfway through muttering threats about people saying in appropriate things _just_ loud enough for Kankuro to overhear, Sakura answered her. "Tsunade-sama is sending us to clear out some of the older, unused training grounds, remember?"

Kiba rubbed her forehead, thinking back to the night before. After consuming a barbeque meal to celebrate the fact Kiba had _not_ been reduced to a mewling sack of pain filled meat, Shizune had found them and said...something. "Uh, not really. Why is she sending eleven of us to do some damn gardening anyway?"

Sakura gave her a worried look. "Shizune said they're not sure what might in there, considering how close they are to the Forest of Death, we're not gardening." She said. "You asked that exact question last night. Is something wrong?"

They had gotten more interest from the rest of the group were, including Kankuro. Not particularly enjoying the attention, Kiba reassured Sakura that it was probably just fatigue or adjusting to a new body, although Sakura's internal medic still seemed. Hoping to find a distraction Kiba search for something else to turn the conversation to.

And found it in the form of a leering, makeup wearing puppeteer. "What the hell is this tool doing here?" she asked, pointing at him in a markedly aggressive fashion. Since the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke some two and a half years ago and the rescue at the hands of the Sand Siblings the two of them had something of a rivalry. This manifested in arguing and rampant competitiveness.

Kankuro answered that himself. "For your information, mutt, I'm just along for the ride. Gonna be a couple days until I head back to Suna and there's nothing interesting to do so I thought 'Hey, what could be more fun than watching other people work.' So here I am." He smirked at her, clearly pleased with himself.

"Oi, what's up with that!" a certain orange ninja practically shouted, unexpectedly close to Kankuro's ear. He continued, not quite as loudly since Kankuro was bent over with a hand over his ear. "You could help, y'know!" Some of the others voiced similar, albeit somewhat calmer in most cases, opinions.

Recovering, the puppeteer sneered at Naruto. "Like hell I will. I've worked my arse off in Suna and I'm not losing any relaxation time here." His eyes narrowed at their expressions of annoyance. "Why do you think Gaara sent me? My undefinable charm and tact?" he asked sarcastically.

Kiba snorted. "I can define your charm just fine, but it involves setting small animals on fire."

With a sweep of his arms Kankuro indicated the area around them. At some point in the argument they had reached the training ground areas. "You go ahead and find some animals to set on fire, but I doubt any you can find will be small."

Further dissention was forestalled by the announcement "We're here." From Neji at the front of the pack. "here" was a tall fence akin to the one which surrounded the Forest of Death, or the Forty Fourth Training Ground, which was appropriate considering that this was the Forty Seventh Training Ground. It looked just as bad, but according to Shikamaru it was significantly smaller. It was still large enough that it required a number of ninja to clear it out. Dividing them into four groups he placed a member of Team 8 in each, plus Neji, so they could find each other easier. According to the last report some sort of odd fungus blocked the communication between the small ear radios they had all received, so they would mostly have to do without them. Other than that, they were just to clear out as many of the more monstrous creatures that they found so the Training Ground could be reclaimed.

Heading off in one direction Kiba's team consisted of the dog-nin, Akamaru, Tenten and technically Kankuro. The others were Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru, in group one, Ino, Shino, Lee forming group two with group three consisting of Neji, Choji and Sakura. For whatever reason Sai was not with them but when asked Sakura and Naruto had been as confused as the rest of them as to why he wasn't assigned to this as well.

The day progressed without much trouble beyond occasionally running into creatures extremely adept at ambushing. The forest's inhabitants were very similar to residents of the Forest of Death though relatively easy for chuunin but enough of a challenge that it had been decided not to leave it Genin.

Sniffing the air after slaying a massive gray serpent, Kiba and Akamaru searched for any scents similar to what they had found in the Forest of Death. It might have been over two years but there were some things you didn't forget about that place. Picking the trail of something reminded her of the huge snakes, a sudden thought struck her. She turned to the others and asked.

"Hey, why were Naruto and Choji outside the kitchen door?"

Kankuro, in an burst of originality, smirked at the memory but it was Tenten who answered. Kiba hadn't really had much to do with her, but she was always affectionate to Akamaru when he was looking for attention. "They were, uh, going to scare you. That's why they put a seal over the door. So you wouldn't know they were there..." she looked nervous and apologetic, like it was her fault for not stopping them.

The idea made perfect sense to Kiba, save for one thing. "Choji? And who can do seals like that?"

Tenten nodded. "Yeah, Naruto was determined that someone else had to join in but...well, he couldn't convince anyone else to help. He had to bribe Choji. As for the seal, it was apparently something Naruto learned from Jiriya. He said something about using it for something good for once." Here her tone was disapproving, no doubt well aware of what the perverted toad-sage would use a seal that blocked smell and sound for.

Thinking it over, Kiba laughed and said "Heh, that would have been good. Wish it had been someone else so I could have joined. Guess Naruto wasted a bribe."

The puppeteer spoke up at last. "Not sure I would say he 'wasted' it. I know I enjoyed the result." He had apparently decided not to simply pretend to forget it had ever happened like everyone else. No, he was going to keep it in a gold encrusted frame in his hall of memories to be brought out whenever he needed to annoy Kiba.

Unfortunately for him, Tenten heard. There were few things that got her riled up like hearing this sort of thing. Kiba might have only been a female, and thus a kunoichi, for a day and night but dammit, that didn't change the fact! The fact Kankuro was being a pervert! She altered her pace until she was moving at level with the Sand-nin as they leapt from tree to tree.

As she berated Kankuro for taking like that, the puppeteer mused that a particularly paranoid person might speculate that the genius had known this would happen and assign them accordingly, confident that Kankuro would tag along with Kiba's group. '_Tch, not my fault Gaara walked in on them. I mean, how was _I_ to know that offering to finish his paperwork would let him get back home that early._'

Suddenly he noticed something. Interrupting Tenten he said "You see where the mutt went?"

Breaking off, Tenten realised he was right. The two went on guard immediately, landing and holding position back to back. She drew a kunai and reached back to grip her scroll, Kankuro mirroring her actions. Kiba shouldn't have been able to sneak off on her own without them noticing as she did so, and neither should Akamaru.

A flicker of movement at the edge of Kankuro's vision was all the warning he had. Pushing Tenten as he dived away the spinning whirlwind narrowly brushed by them. The familiar spinning shape hit a higher branch and came to a stop, momentarily hidden by a cloud of wood shaving and shrapnel.

Halfway through pulling his puppet storing scrolls out, Kankuro froze. It didn't take long for Tenten to see why as more of their attacker was revealed.

Crouched atop the branch, drooling like a madden beast, Kiba glared down at them. Or at least, what appeared to be Kiba. From her forehead a network of purple markings emanated from a single purple diamond across her body. Her eyes glowed with a faint sinister light.

"What the hell mutt? Something wrong with you?" Kankuro yelled at her.

She answered him with a feral growl, legs coiling for a second before she launched at them a second time.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Muttered Kankuro, rolling open the scrolls as a drooling, crazed Inuzuka bore down on him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well, that's it for this chapter. Things are actually getting serious! How unexpected. For you that is. I knew. Of course I knew. I have a plan.

...honest!

Anyway, once again please review and even more please, someone suggest a good title, I've got nothing! Whoever suggests the best title will get a parade in their honour, I promise!

Would I lie to you?


	5. The Battle of the Earthrager & A Weirdo

Hey all, I'm back with an even longer chapter!

Goods news: I had computer trouble, but now got that fixed and upgraded to Windows 7 at last, from damned Vista. Its great! Also: started a Creative Writing course, so hopefully that will help my writing and you can all reap the benefit!...hopefully without a scythe. Or any other sort of farming equipment or death related imagery.

Also: Thanks to Lix Lorn for checking over the first fight for me. I got a bit...paranoid. Still, Lix is busy, so looking for a beta. And to make sure someone sees:

OI! I NEED A BETA! READ THIS YOU BASTARDS! I'd really appreciate it.

Not that I think any of you are bastards, either in its common usage or the product of illegitimate relations ships out of wedlock. Not like that really matters in this day an age, my best friend is technically a bastard. Makes insulting him annoying, since he's like "yeah, so?"

Last thing: still looking for good title suggestion. Please assist me, you'll get a parade! I swear by all the religions I don't follow...which is all of them but still.

Anyway, if you read that...wow. Congrats! Thanks for the integrity to read all my writing.

On with the show!

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

_It's harder to capture then to kill._

Tenten knew this. It was an important fact on missions involving kidnapping or capturing an enemy. You had to make sure not to strike any vital organs, not to kill them on a reflex when you got the chance, and to avoid dying at same time. Team Gai had to be especially careful, lacking any trained medics. As such, Tenten had made a point of acquiring and training with a number of non-lethal weapons so she would have less chance of killing the target with a wayward shuriken, kunai, kunai grenade, kama, senbon, sword, axe, dagger, spear, kusarigama or flail.

Not that she'd killed people they were meant to capture with _all_ of those weapons. Just...a few.

She thanked Kami-sama she had thought to bring one scroll with capture weapons, on the odd chance they needed to take an animal or two alive. If only Kiba would just stop moving long enough to get caught!

Her erstwhile partner was working on that front at least. He had managed to summon two of his puppets while Tenten had held Kiba off for a few moments. Unfortunately whatever controlled Kiba was both enhancing her abilities and making use of her prior knowledge in regards to Kankuro's puppets. She had so far dodged those few of Crow's attacks that could be used safely, as most were coated in deadly poisons, and any attempts by Black Ant to capture her were futile as long as she tried to attack the puppeteer. Their combined efforts had so far prevented the controlled Inuzuka from landing any particularly damaging hits on him.

He started in alarm and barely leapt out of the way, the dog-nin leaving a deep furrow in the tree. Coiling to launch after him, she instead leapt in the opposite direction to avoid a hail of blunt kunai from above. Skidding to a halt, Kiba went on all fours, pushing into a charge when Crow appeared to one side and Black Ant on the other. The larger split down the middle and exposed its innards like a hungry maw as Crow launched its arms like deadly missiles.

Whatever held power over Kiba's actions had in no way affected her strong senses. Her arm swung and four shuriken cut through the air. Kankuro cursed when Kiba leapt between the arms, the wires strung in a net between the air-borne arms severed, avoiding both the trap and the heavy steel net Tenten had sent at her from above. The dog-nin hit Crow feet first and, since all the traps for such an event were poisoned, the puppeteer could do nothing when she simply rebounded...upwards!

Eyes wide in surprise, Tenten still did her teacher proud, reflexively summoning a wide bladed space like weapon to catch the Piercing Fang Kiba had spun into. It held for a few seconds before, with a sudden crack, it shattered. Only the fierce training Gai had beaten –although it was doubtful he saw it that way – into her kept her from being gored, planting her feet on the weapon a split second before it broke and pushing. This was enough to at least redirect the attack enough that Kiba passed the weapon specialist with barely an inch of space between them.

Letting gravity do its work, Tenten fell, controlling it enough to land on a branch near Kankuro. With the amount of power that attack had possessed they would have but a few vital seconds to devise something.

"Kiba's too fast, and we can't sneak up or hide thanks to the mutt's damned nose." Kankuro said, while manipulating his puppets onto nearby branches. "If I'm not wrong, h-she can smell the poisons and oil on my puppets, which makes it just that much harder. How about you?"

Thinking quickly, Tenten tried to work out a weakness the puppeteer hadn't noticed. "I'm nearly out of non-lethal weapons, it's not usually a priority. Two more time delay steel nets bombs, one more net, about twelve blunt kunai and a manriki-gusari, with an extra long chain." For someone of her speciality, keeping track of what weapons she had used was vital. "We need to come with something soon."

Keeping their eyes and ears roving, they both knew they didn't have long when something occurred to Kankuro. It wasn't even really a plan or proper idea, just the seed of something which might be of use here. Lowering his voice just in case, the Sand-nin started to explain his idea.

They had a surprise in mind for the controlled Inuzuka.

=Break=

Rage.

It filled her, suffused her every vein and seemed to set her brain on fire. The urge to rip and tear, to feel flesh give way to bone, to crack the bone down to the marrow as blood dripped down her throat was overwhelming. Nothing made sense, everything was coated in a thick yet somehow fine haze of crimson. It coloured all her actions and took her voice, leaving only the growls of a frenzied animal in its place.

Were it not for the iron seal that directed that pure rage, Kiba would have simply begun attacking the closest living creature no matter how small. As it was, something had been woven into the berserk frenzy that sent her hunting through the forest for her former comrades. It held complete sway over her will even in this mad state.

Beneath that, trapped by the malignant chakra of another, Kiba dwelled. He roared and howled as he felt his body, however different it now was, do its best to butcher his friends. When it nearly gutted Tenten his struggles intensified for a brief moment before the chakra pulsed and forced him further back. There had to be something he could do, anything! His howls echoed the barred corridors of his mind without answer.

Racing down the trunk of the massive tree Feral Kiba howled madly, claws leaving deep cuts in the bark. She shot down it like an arrow once she had caught the scent of her prey. It growled in dissatisfaction when the two bloodless bundles of wood and metal that stank of rot leapt up towards her. The smaller one tried the same trick as before, this time with a stronger net. It was easy to evade it. The bloodthirsty beast howled in glee as the weak part of her cursed in despair when she went over it, and knocked it back into the one permeated with the smell of stale blood.

Drooling hungrily, she launched off the tree trunk towards the cowering form of the poison choked prey, only to feel something latch onto her ankles. The beast directed her gaze downward, even as her nose informed her of the sudden shift in scent.

Grinning from his place where Crow had been, thanks to a timely use of the Body Replacement Jutsu, Kankuro gave Feral Kiba a wink.

"Surprise, bitch."

Before she could react he pulled her back and used every ounce of strength he had once cultivated for the purpose of carrying his puppets to throw towards the tree. With a tug of one hand Crow's arms, and the heavy steel net hanging between them, came flying back to earth at high speed.

It wasn't enough, however. Snarling the animal in control of Kiba became a whirling arrowhead of fangs and claws. The net, crafted with high-quality steel woven throughout it, was torn straight through the middle. She howled again, knowing the blood spilling was about to begin. Kiba's true mind, however, felt a small flicker of hope as his murderous body came for the puppeteer, sprinting down the tree on all fours.

Kankuro was smirking.

At the last second, the feral animal became aware of two facts. The large doll was to one side of Kiba, and the arms, no longer bearing their torn net, were following her. With a twitch of Kankuro's fingers Black Ant's stomach opened to reveal Tenten, holding a thick bar shaped iron weight in each hand, connected by a long chain which her feet rested against. A jerk of her feet sent the chain over Kiba and a chakra string tugged it down, perfectly level with the dog-nin, where Tenten leapt out, crossing the chains and pulling. With a rattle, the crossed part of the chain closed the distance. Desperately Kiba tried to grab the chain-only to notice Crow pulling her arms into just the right position.

The beast howled madly when the thick chain collided with her stomach, the loyal dog-nin letting out a mental cheer. The two weren't done, however, as Tenten threw something through the air towards the bound ninja. It detonated in a cloud of smoke, soon ripped apart by the heavy net that was in its place. Kiba grunted as it slammed into her. There was nothing she could do but struggle as Tenten summoned a spear and sent it through steel hoops on the end of the net, as Kankuro's chakra strings bunched them behind her.

The maddened howls of a captured demon filled the forest until Kankuro finally got fed up and cracked her over the head.

=Break=

Eyeing their prisoner, Kankuro couldn't help but wonder who had done this to Inuzuka. Sure, they were more rivals than friends, but Kiba was one of the more entertaining of the Konoha ninja. Knowing he was unlikely to get any answer, the puppeteer went back to watching the space around them. After Tenten had gone high enough to get reception, she had been lucky enough to get the other teams who had come up for their regular reports. Apparently, they had already missed one and the rest were looking for them. Being the deepest into the forest Shikamaru had ordered them to wait and be on guard until the rest of the team arrived. There had to be at least one other person here with them and he decided it would be better not to risk them when there was only two of them to carry Kiba. The burden would leave them open to attack and if Kiba got free...

They didn't have long to wait before the first team touched down, Neji, Choji and Sakura with an unexpected addition. Akamaru came bounding along with them, barking in distress when he saw his partner trussed up like a hog.

"Well" Neji said after they had heard an outline of recent events "this was…unexpected." What beautiful understatement. Kankuro evidently agreed.

The puppeteer snorted. "Yeah, a bit." His voice thick with sarcasm. "I didn't think the mutt would go fucking crazy and kill me for at _least_ a few days. Anyway, where'd you find the dog? Couldn't risk heading off to look for him." He nudged Akamaru away from the bound ninja, ignoring the canine's growl in response. "So, what's the plan? We waiting for Shikamaru or the mutt alright to move now?"

Sakura knelt down beside Kiba, reaching out with a chakra filled hand to press against the Inuzuka's forehead. Ignoring the question she turned to Neji "Can you inspect Kiba's chakra for signs of abnormality, specifically around her forehead and the tenketsu in and around her brain?"

Huffing angrily at being ignored Kankuro moved to keep a watch around the edges, leaving them to do thing. Well, Sakura's thing mostly with Neji providing what assistance his eyes could. Mid way through the inspection the other two teams arrived.

"Kiba's chakra is…tainted is really the only way to describe it. Or infected." Sakura explained. They had gathered in a circle, listening to her report. "The origin point is the diamond shape on her forehead, and its bleeding in through more of her tenketsu, increasing as the marks grow. It's a cycle; taints chakra, which is then used to spread the mark, infecting _more_ chakra to be used to infect even more chakra, and so on and so forth. Whoever activated it must have forced it to grow by supplying their own chakra for the initial take-over."

Kankuro interrupted her there. "Wait, 'activated'? You activate something you've left in place, like a trap. I should know, use traps all the time. Hell, Crow is particularly made of them. Now, do you mean when whoever used it?" A chorus of groans greeted his apparent nitpicking.

The medic-nin herself bore an expression of surprise. "Wow, you caught that. When I said activated, I meant activated. From what we could make out, the mark was placed and hidden within the last twelve or so hours."

"Whoever did it was able to prevent our Byakugan from detecting it." Neji indicated himself and Hinata, who tentatively nodded.

"My ally also did not locate any abnormalities in Kiba's chakra before now." Shino said. When the others stared at him, he added "I keep one of my kikaichu on my teammates at most times on missions. A precaution we agreed on, years ago," Again, Hinata agreed.

Nodding, Sakura continued, "Right, whoever did this was careful, skilled and most likely powerful. As a precaution, Neji has disrupted the flow of Kiba's chakra to prevent the mark from feeding on it. But we can't do anything here. We need someone skilled in this sort of thing."

Shikamaru closed his eyes, thinking for a moment. Opening them, he looked at Ino. "Have you tried entering Kiba's mind, getting any information from the source?"

She shook her head. "I considered it, but I didn't think it would be worth the risk. Besides, we're warned not to enter someone's head when they're suffering from mental problems." At Akamaru's angry bark, Ino clarified. "I mean, if Kiba is going crazy and attacking, acting like, well, an animal, I think that's there more to it than just mind control. Dad told me once that it's easier to control someone if they're angry or upset, so long as its not at you, since you can guide that anger. First step is to make them sufficiently angry. Whoever is controlling Kiba might have done something to her mind, made her go berserk."

"Right, so let's sum up; Kiba is being controlled by someone who put a jutsu on her last night. They're probably using something to make her go bloodthirsty to maintain control. They're stealthy, separating Akamaru and Kiba from Kankuro and Tenten without either noticing-" both went red, embarrassed "-and knocked out Akamaru without him seeing. Oh, and we have to get Kiba back to Godaime-sama without knowing _where_ this extremely skilled stalker is." Shikamaru summed up. A pause, and then "Troublesome."

He would have gone on, but Neji and Hinata both spun to face the same direction.

"Incoming." Neji warned. A moment later "Its Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei. And a dog. Moving fast."

Three fast moving shapes shot from the trees, landing among them. They were indeed Hatake Kakashi and Maito Gai following Pakkun, Kakashi's skilled tracker nin-dog.

Kakashi spoke before anyone else had the chance. "There's been an infiltration, someone got through our defences and we think whoever it was is near here and….why is Kiba chained up? And unconscious?" He queried. Gai echoed him in his own…unique way as he ever did.

Letting Lee explain in a matching manner to his mentor, Shikamaru explained as quickly as he could.

"Hmm, if you're right with the timing, about half an hour ago was it? We detected the intruder about twenty minutes ago, moving towards here. Back-up? Damn, we don't have enough information." Kakashi muttered, tapping his concealed chin. "We _should_ make our priority getting Kiba back for now. If they can control his-"

"Her."

"Be quiet Naruto. If they can control Kiba's mind, they might be able take information as well. We can't risk someone obtaining Inuzuka clan techniques. Besides, if there are two intruders at least one isn't as skilled at stealth." Kakashi was obviously considering which was more important; Kiba didn't seem to be in any immediate danger and there was at least two dangerous intruders, however they didn't know enough about what was afflicting Kiba. If it could be hidden from the Byakugan it might have more nasty surprises.

"My youthful rival, might I suggest an alternative method?" Gai suggested at ear-hurting volume. Without waiting for Kakashi to respond he continued. "We could split our forces. One of us returns with Kiba and several of our youthful charges, while the remaining numbers hunts our most unyouthful enemy!" Gai flashed a 'Nice Guy Pose'. Fortunately the shade preventing anyone from being blinded.

"That won't be necessary, Gai-sensei."

"H-he's right, Kakashi-s-sensei."

Everyone directed their attention to the two Hyuuga.

"Whatcha talking about?" Naruto asked, frowning at them.

Ignoring his cousin's sudden blush, Neji pointed to the east. "Two people, moving towards us. I think they're fighting. One is similar, if not the same, as the chakra tainting Kiba's. I have nothing on the other one. Both are jounin-level at the least."

"Right. Lee, you carry Kiba. Hinata, Choji, Ino, Tenten, I want you four to go with him. You're taking Kiba to the hospital, one you inform the Hokage as soon as you get out of the forest. Move as fast as you can." Kakashi shot out orders. "The rest are coming with me and Gai. Neji, take the lead." He turned to Kankuro. "I'm sorry, but this is Leaf business and while you might be an ally we can't risk you here without the Kazekage's permission. Return with the others if you would."

Kankuro sighed but agreed. Seems like he'd miss out on something interesting.

They split quickly, each team heading their own direction.

V-V-V _With the Intruder Hunting Team _V-V-V

It wasn't long before they came across signs of fighting, in this case a series of craters and shattered tree trunks. It was only slightly longer when they heard the sound of fighting. Leaping out of the trees into a wide, largely empty clearing the non-Byakugan eyes finally saw the fighters.

One was seven foot, heavily muscled man with light brown skin, adorned with various long tattoos, wearing loose brown trousers topped with a loose black cloth sash wound around his waist. He wore nothing else, not even shoes, save a plain cloth that was wrapped around his mouth and neck multiple times. His tattoos either began or ended on his back in a large wheel with multiple spokes. From this distance he seemed shaven-head. He was fighting hands free, using a brutal open palmed taijutsu style that utilised a high number of kicks. To Neji's eyes, and one of Kakashi's, he glowed with an extreme amount of Earth Element chakra.

His rapidly moving opponent was smaller, a thin man in woven robes of gray streaked with blue marks. He was hooded, but they could catch flashes of long, bright violet hair. He moved fast, rarely staying in one place. He never blocked, dodging instead. From the craters left by the larger man's fists, this seemed a smart idea.

"Those marks, on his robe! They're the same as the ones on Kiba." Naruto pointed out.

"I think we're found our culprit." Kakashi watched the fight. "Gai, thoughts on the big one?"

The taijutsu master was serious now, studying the battle closely. "He's using a style I've not seen before. He's using Earth Element as well." He indicated the damage. "I've heard about something similar, an Iwa shinobi from the last war but he was the only user and he was executed for rebelling against the Tsuchikage. Might be a student no one knew about."

Kakashi nodded. "Kousou the Earthrager. This fits what I heard about the man and his style. He had tattoos that were used to enhance and shape the chakra to increase strength and toughness. But I don't see an Iwa headband anywhere."

"What do we do, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto had managed, in a marvellous display of willpower, to not charge madly forward.

"We surround them for now. Do not charge in without an order to do so. We need to know more, like why they're fighting. If it _does_ come down to it, Naruto. Gai, Shikamaru, you go after the one in robes. Distract him with clones and attacks until Shikamaru can catch him. Neji, you go for the big one's tenketsu the second he goes hostile. Sakura, I want you to hit him with everything you've got as shown as Neji has disabled his defence. Shino, get your bugs ready to jump them both if they move beyond the clearing and see if you can land a female on them so we can track them if they escape."

"What'll you do Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, as Shino slipped into the forest.

He smiled – or so she had learnt to interpret it through the mask over the years – reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'll be here to save you." She rolled her eyes, before his eye got a serious look. "I'll be in reserve. Whichever gives more trouble, that's the one I'll go for. Now, get in position!" He commanded and so they did, leaping into the trees around the clearing.

The battle seemed to calm for a moment, both particpants facing each other in the middle of the clearing. At this distance Kakashi couldn't make out their words and both their mouths were covered, preventing him from lip-reading. The conversation came to an end when, with a rapid flick through hand seals, the larger man slammed a foot into the ground. The earth buckled a rolled beneath him like the ocean and his opponent was faced with a wave of stone and dirt roaring above and towards him.

The robed intruder's hand flew in his own jutsu as he ran towards the towering wave. Leaping into the air he bounced up the wave, from stone to stone, he shot above the wave. At the pinnacle of his flight his hands spread and a wave of purple, icicle like needles erupted from the air around him. The violet spears fell in their hundreds, tearing through the wave and shredding the earth around it.

Descending, he was caught by surprise when the massive Earth Release user flickered into existence next to him, a kick from above increasing his rate of descent to dangerous levels. The massive warrior followed and, to Kakashi's and Neji's sight, built huge amounts of chakra into his arms. He hit the crater his human missile had left with an even greater boom, raising a massive dust cloud and cracking the ground in every direction.

"Neji." The Hyuuga heard over his earbead. "What's happening?"

Sharpening his focus, he replied "It hit. The one in the robe is down. Still alive, but I'd guess he's unconscious. The big one is getting up. Now's he just standing there, not doing anything. No changes in his chakra."

"Right. Hold for now."

The Konoha ninja kept watch, waiting as the dust cloud faded away.

"Wait!" Neji hissed. "Picking up the other one, thrown over his shoulder. Kneading chakra! Hand seals! Bird, dog, monkey, snake, ox, ram, snake-"

Kakashi reacted at neck break speed. He burst from the trees, speeding through the dust towards the intruders, saying as he did so "Go! He's trying to escape. Do not let him finish that jutsu!"

The team were fast, following his orders the moment they heard the word 'Go!'

Leading the way Kakashi burst the from the dust cloud into the strangely clear area over the crater, his hand glowing and crackling with a Raikiri, his legendary Lightning Cutter. The huge warrior reacted instantly to the sudden threat, pushing himself backwards fast enough to narrowly avoid the strike. Barely an inch separated the two, chakra lightning dancing across the intruder's tattoos.

The intruder's leg lifted, knee aimed at Kakashi's chest. This time it was the Konoha jounin who dodged, straightening so the attack went past him. Kakashi's arm swung out horizontally, still glowing with the Raikiri. Grunting as he tried to move, the intruder only managed to minimise the hit, leaving him with a long, burnt slice across his lower chest.

Throughout this he hadn't stopped forming hand seals.

He did, however, when Gai's fist cannoned into his side. The force of the blow would have sent most shinobi catapulting away, but his toughened body and own strength were enough to simply reduce it to being pushed into the crater's edge.

Somehow keeping his defeated enemy on his shoulder, the huge ninja was back on his feet within moments, fast enough that he might have avoided the swarm of kikaichu. The dust cloud muted the cacophony of buzzing bugs enough that, combined with crackling of the wave of fire Kakashi unleashed, the black cloud hit its target. They clung to his stomach, consuming the chakra reinforcing his skin.

A powerful perfectly controlled slash of his forearm cleared the bugs, but Neji came next. He scored a strike on the chakra pathways again and again. He was relentless for the two seconds he had, raining blow after blow onto the vulnerable chakra pathway system.

The outline of hand, moving far too fast, was all Neji saw before the open palm slammed into his face and launched him away. Panting heavily the intruder threw himself to the side, another of Gai's attacks creating a rain of dirt, and could only lift his right arm to block the fire ball Kakashi's rapid hand seals had released. His chest might have been stripped of chakra, but his arms still held firm and with a roar he seemed to grip the fire itself, twisting and pushing it away...

Which left him open to Naruto, hidden by the fire ball, and the whirling sphere of chakra in his hands. Blood and spit vomited into the air from his mouth, and his vision darkened for a second before some sixth sense caught the vague form coming at him from the front. His palm slammed against the side of Naruto's head, burying the jinchuuriki in the ground ten meters away. Hands centred, he pushed his palms out to catch the fist of the pink haired kunoichi.

As a wave of pain came from where the girl's fist was imbedded, in the same defenceless spot as the Rasengan, he became aware of the thin shadow that had connected to his for a split second before releasing, breaking the momentum and timing of his counterattack. The ground around him cracked under the force of that single punch and he felt a moment of admiration for the girl's strength.

Unable to articulate beyond a roar of agitation, the intruder refused to go down. His right hand was dodged, barely, but his left struck true and the kunoichi followed her companion from before. Digging feet into the edges of his personal crater, he pumped chakra into them to power his push.

Soaring through the air he landed on one of the boulders left from his previous fight. Panting heavily, he stared wildly into the dust cover. He knew how they had gotten past his defences now. The Aburame bugs, for they could be nothing else, had drained the chakra infused into his body. Not long, but long enough for the Hyuuga, if the eyes were any indication, to dam the flow of Earth chakra, preventing his defensive technique from taking effect. Fading away as the wind gained strength, the intruder searched for his attackers. At last, unsuccessful, the dust was gone, save for a low cover that swathed the ground, and there they stood.

Or rather, he stood. Only Kakashi Hatake had remained where he could be seen, the rest swiftly concealing themselves.

"Intruder, by order of the Godaime Hokage you are ordered to surrender yourself. Continue to resist and we will use lethal force." His tone was bored, as though he was simply listing groceries, but the look in his open sharingan was harsh.

Taking in a deep breath, the intruder finally found his voice. "You're much like your master, Kakashi Hatake. Would that I could, but my business is not with Ko-" what else he might have said was lost as he came to a sudden stop.

Blooming from his chest were six ethereal, purple, icicle-like needles. Drops of blood fell from their tips, falling into the last remnants of the dust cloud. The intruder turned his head to the figure on his shoulder. The presumably unconscious shinobi's feet struck him before something slammed into his back. The robed man nimbly slid from his captor's grip as the huge warrior fell, disappearing after his blood.

Landing where his opponent had stood, the robed man stood facing off to the side. Kakashi's expression, what was visible, was surprised. He hadn't seen anything chakra or movement. He couldn't be sure of Neji, who he suspected had been rendered unconscious. His nose was probably broken at least.

"Tut tut, how very rude. And here I was, believing all those tall tales about Konoha being such a _welcoming_ place. Hmhmmm." The voice that issued from the hood was male, slightly higher pitched than normal, but soft and teasing. "Yet here you are, attacking without so much as a how-do-you-do. To think I would misjudge you all so much! Koso-kun wasn't even interested in your little village of leaves. Hmhmmm."

"Koso? You mean the man you just stabbed through the chest?" Kakashi asked. He had to keep him talking, give the others a chance to plan and get into position.

The intruder tittered, a strangely lyrical sound. "Oh yes, you might have heard of him from the last Ninja World War. Made quite a reputation for himself, so I've been told. He even fought with your Yondaime, though he lost, quite badly too. As for the stabbing, oh but that's just business I'm afraid. I'd be happy to get along with Koso-kun...a bit more than most, if you take my meaning!"He tittered again, finding his own words hilarious. "Dreadful that we have to fight so. So, so sad. Hmhmmm."

Kakashi was finding the weird humming quite annoying, though he didn't let it show in his voice. "Yes, very sad. What might your name be?"

"Hmhmmm. My name?" tittering again. "You may call me Suppai-chan. A pleasure to meet you, Sharingan Kakashi-kun. Hmhmmm. Do we really have to fight?" Suppai's voice was honey-sweet, Kakashi found it oddly sickening. Like rotten food the seller was trying to disguise with vast amounts of sugar.

The jounin shrugged, not at all surprised at being recognised. "It depends on if you resist. Or if you're the one who's attacked one of our chunin and used her to attack two more." He didn't see any reason to mention that technically Kankuro was a Suna jounin.

Suppai peeked at Kakashi from beneath his hood curiously, who caught a glimpse of patches of pale and dark skin. "You mean Kiba-chan? You've all taken to calling him a her rather quickly, hmhmmm. But if that's how we do it these days." That annoying tittering again.

He took that as a yes, but decided to keep the conversation rolling. Any information he could get now was information they didn't have to get out of Suppai by other, more colourful means later. "Well, the Godaime wasn't certain how long Kiba would be female, so she asked that we use the pronouns that are currently correct, as far as her body goes."

"Hmhmm, what a wise Kage you have. I'm sure Koso-kun here wished he had such a leader back then. So tell me, Kakashi-kun, when will your little helpers attack?" Suppai tittered once more. It seemed to become more annoying each time he did it. "Do you _really_ need them for dear Suppai-chan?" He turned to face Kakashi now, exposing his pale face laced with patches of pitch black, pouting. Suppai's face was soft and rather feminine, but something about it was...off-putting. Like an elegant carpet hiding burnt, broken floor boards.

A hint of movement was all Kakashi got and all he needed. A clang resounded through the air, the ring of kunai-on-kunai as they impacted at high speed. The Copy-nin shot forward, like a bolt from a crossbow. Suppai moved simultaneously and the kunai had only began to fall when they met above the same spot. Pushing against the kunai held in Suppai's hand with his own, Kakashi slammed a foot into Suppai's stomach. Suppai's other hand hit Kakashi rapidly, once in the chest and twice in the stomach before he caught it by the wrist

Just as gravity began to take effect the separated, kicking off each other. A wave of frozen needles shot in every direction, enough that Kakashi knew his allies would have to spend a few vital seconds evading or defending.

Suppai's disconcerting grin grew, and he began to weave unfamiliar hand seals. Kakashi's sharingan gave him what was the organic equivalent of a "Cannot compute" error message.

"I'm afraid I must dash, Kakashi-kun, Koso-kun. You two try not to have too much fun without Suppai-chan, hmhmm." With a final seal, violet ice sprung into being around Suppai. Soon he was nearly completely encased, but the ice was creeping across his head fast. "Oh, and don't worry about Kiba-chan. I'm sure you'll be able to fix her. At least, until I come back!" With a final titter, the violet ice tomb was complete. For a second nothing seemed to happen and than...

_Crack!_

The ice broke, shattering into untold fragments that broke again. Soon, nothing remained, no body or evidence save sparkling dust that soon disappeared in the wind.

Staring after the vaniashed ninja, Kakashi mentally swore. So close, but at least he had names. If 'Suppai' had been honest. That brought his thought back to 'Koso-kun'. Spinning to face where Kuso had fallen, Kakashi's fingers flew through the hand seals before launching a blast of wind at the dust.

The dust streamed away and for a moment Kakashi could see the figure of the large intruder. Shouting a warning to the others, who were nearly to him, the Copy-nin leapt away. He was only moments ahead of the massive updraft of dirt, mud and rock. It fountained into the air and the Konoha-nin were all forced to again go on to the defensive. To be fair, this time it was boulders and bullet-like pebbles.

Leaping between boulders, Kakashi knew what he would find when it was over. It wasn't long before it subsided and they were able to get closer.

Landing where the intruder had once stood, knowing they had failed, all Kakashi could or wanted to say could be summed up in one word.

"Damn."

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Well, wasn't that fun? Much like last chapter, both longer then the preceding one and pretty much completely serious. Can't decide if I want to try more humour or focus on the action/adventure part, with more combat.

What do you think? Humour or adventure/combat? Come on, tell me!

New Characters:  
**Koso**, according to an online translator/ English to japaense dictionary, means various things. The main points for this character are dispute, confused fighting, imposing and cooking spice. His appearance is partially based on Love Machine, from Summer Wars which I love. Since Love Machine's 2nd form is based part on the "Deva" sort of image, the 'virtuous priest'/'high priest' Koso can also mean or something is handy too.

Hell, even if it doesn't I just like that name now. So meh, if someone can correct me great, I'd love it but unless I like the sound of the actual thing more, it's staying Koso.

Suppai, again from the same translator/dictionary, means sour, acid, acidulous. I just felt like making someone...odd. He reminds me faintly of Orochimaru (for obvious reasons) but meh, he started off as a reason for Koso to be there and have a lot of things skewer him. Now, Suppai is much more...important.

Also, again: thanks to Lix Lorn for going over the first fight when I wrote it earlier and please, more suggestions for title! But even if you don't have an idea, please review. They make me feel warm inside and inspire me to write more. Not that I mean that like a threat, I'll probably write more anyway but reviews make it more fun. This isn't an extortion ratchet, I promise!

Anyway, thanks for reading my good, faithful, loyal readers. All of you, whoever you are.


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